Prayer is wonderful and the benefits of prayer can never be exhausted. Prayer does not only change things, prayer also changes us, it changes men! Little wonder James 5:16 says “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” Another translation says “The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]. Below are 7 things, among many others, that prayer does.
Prayer helps you to develop your relationship with God
Prayer is communicating and fellowshipping with the Father. God as your Father, wants to hear from you and talk to you. Through prayer, you can talk to God and expects His answers. God wants His children to fellowship with Him consistently; prayer is one of the ways to do that.
Prayer can help you change your focus
There are several situations and circumstances going on around us every day, and we could easily get caught up in them. Prayer directs our focus away from these happenings unto God. Prayer also aligns our will with the will of God for us. Prayer doesn’t change God, it changes us and brings us into alignment with His will and help us understand His ways.
Prayer works miracles
In the scriptures, many miracles were wrought as an answer to prayers. In Acts 12, King Herod put Peter in prison and would have killed him, but the church prayed ceaselessly for him, and an angel came and rescued him from the prison. You can also experience miracles such as healing, deliverance, provision, the forgiveness of sins and many other miracles when you pray.
Prayer helps you understand God’s word and His loving nature
When you pray before you study God’s word, the eyes of your understanding is enlightened and you have a revelation of His word. Prayer can help you understand God’s loving nature.
Prayer helps you get direction
When you’re about to make a decision in your life and you pray about it, you get direction about it. God hears prayers and gives the answer and guidance needed for that decision. You can never go wrong in your decisions when you pray and rely on God for directions.
Prayer changes things and men
Through prayer, the seemingly impossible things are made possible. Men, situations and circumstances are changed when tremendous power is made available through prayer.
Prayer releases anxiety
Prayer is a channel through which we can pour our hearts to God and lay our cares and burdens at His feet. Through prayer, we show absolute dependence and confidence in God which makes anxiety flee.
Conclusion
The importance of prayer in our everyday life can never be overemphasized and the benefits of prayer are numerous and can never be exhausted, the list goes on and on. God is ever ready to communicate and fellowship with us, therefore, prayer is a major tool in drawing close to God and knowing Him better.
You and I have many opportunities to complain on a regular basis. But complaining doesn’t do any good; all complaining does is open the door for the enemy. It doesn’t solve problems; it just creates a breeding ground for greater problems.
Instead of complaining, let’s choose to respond to the Lord each day by developing an attitude of gratitude. This is not just an occasional expression of thanks, but a continual lifestyle of thanksgiving. The person who has developed an “attitude of gratitude” is one who is thankful and grateful for every single thing that God is doing in his or her life day by day.
you know what it’s like to face a problem so big it seems downright irresponsible not to worry about it? There may not be a thing you can do about it, but you feel like you need to at least be concerned. After all, someone needs to! And no one else seems to be volunteering for the job.
I remember one time in particular I felt exactly that way. I was holding a series of meetings in Ruston, Louisiana. I had just discovered our budget was $900 short—and in those days, $900 might as well have been $9 million! The devil was attacking my mind, telling me that no one cared about me or my ministry, telling me that I was facing this problem alone.
Would you like to have people chasing you down to meet your needs? Then next time you’re facing a problem, give it to God. Let Him be the One who’s concerned about it. He’s volunteered for the job and you can trust Him to do it well. After all, He really does care for you.
For six whole hours, the Son of God was suspended between heaven and earth. And at the height of His suffering on the cross, He cried out in the deep darkness, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:45–46).
For the first time, Jesus addressed His Father as “God.” The Father had forsaken the Son. As Judge of the universe, God had to turn His back on His Son, who was carrying the filth of the world’s sins, for His eyes are too pure to behold evil (see Habakkuk 1:13).
If the Father had not turned His back on His Son, He would have to turn His back on you today when you call out to Him in your hour of need. But because Jesus has taken your place, today, you take His place, and you have God’s face smiling on you always!
So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
When God got you saved, He didn’t just have you in mind. He had your whole family in mind. That is why His Word says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Now, this does not mean that once you believe in Jesus, your family members are automatically saved. What it means is that you have opened a big door for God to move into your family’s life and to touch every member of your family!
So don’t worry about your unsaved parents or grandparents. God knows how to reach out to them. A relative of mine spoke only Cantonese, and could not go to church because she was very old and her legs were weak. But Jesus appeared to her in a vision and spoke to her in perfect Cantonese! She had never encountered Jesus, but knew that it was Him and understood what He said to her. After that, those who visited and spoke with her were amazed by her knowledge of Jesus.
"Oh, if only I had more faith." Ever say or think that? Jesus didn't think we needed more faith. In Matthew 17:20b He said if you had faith as small as a mustard seed you could move a mountain. Romans 12:3b says we've all been given the measure of faith, so we have more than enough faith to move the biggest mountain of sickness, disease, poverty, fear, lack, bondage to sin, and yes even a literal mountain or whatever mountain is standing in our way of fulfilling God's glorious plan for our lives.
Then what is the problem? What is keeping our faith from being released to do its job of activating God's promises in our lives so we can live the prosperous and overcoming life promised us in God's word? Jesus gives us the answer in Matthew 17:20a when He tells his disciples why they could not cast the demon out of the "lunatic" boy. Jesus said, "Because of your unbelief." Unbelief is the culprit, not the lack of faith. Get rid of the unbelief and the problem is solved.
Failures and disappointments. Aches and pains from the past that just won’t seem to go away. Most of us know what it’s like to suffer from them but too few of us know just what to do about them. So we limp along, hoping somehow they’ll magically stop hurting.
Kenneth Copeland
But it never happens that way. In fact, the passing of time often leaves us in worse condition—not better. Because, instead of putting those painful failures behind us, we often dwell on them until they become more real to us than the promises of God. We focus on them until we become bogged down in depression, frozen in our tracks by the fear that if we go on, we’ll only fail again.
I used to get caught in that trap a lot. Then one day when I was right in the middle of a bout with depression, the Lord spoke up inside me and said:
Yesterday I encountered a person who was quite demanding that I do something she wanted me to do and would not take no for an answer. I ended up being rude to her, and I feel a godly sorrow over my behavior. I always want to represent God well, and that means I often need to be long-suffering with someone who is irritating to me.
I don’t feel guilty and condemned, because I have repented and know that I am forgiven, but I do feel a godly sorrow, and I think that feeling is healthy and right. We should take our sin seriously and be deeply penitent when we do something that we know is wrong.
Although this feeling is uncomfortable, I welcome it because it impresses on me the importance of my witness for Christ and reminds me of how easy it is to behave in a fleshly and carnal way. The Bible urges us repeatedly to be on our guard against the temptations we encounter in the world and to live carefully. Being rude to someone may seem a small thing, but it is the little foxes that spoil the vine (see Song of Solomon 2:15).
I believe we should appreciate any feeling of chastisement that we receive from the Holy Spirit, because it is God helping us be the kind of people who represent Jesus well.
Prayer Starter: Lord, I appreciate Your conviction and chastisement, and I am deeply sorry for my sins and grateful for Your forgiveness. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.OkyesPrivacy policy
You can revoke your consent any time using the Revoke consent button.Revoke cookies
